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The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer stated that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He added that the leader's "evolving" explanations had been less than credible.

“Throughout his answers to legitimate questions, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

Fresh Claims Emerge

A recent investigation last month documented the testimony of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a teenage Farage "would approach me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either victims of or observed deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

The incidents they outlined span the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the former classmates were being untruthful.

Commentators have highlighted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his responses.

They also point to his inability to sanction a colleague in his party, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his peers [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He went on to say: “Suggesting that 20 people have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he urgently needs acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Racism in all its forms is anathema to the principles of this country and we should not let it to ever become normalised in politics.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would understand as being crafted in a particular way to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters prior to the release of the report, Farage’s legal team stated that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an interview, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Yes.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”